Handbook of Clinical Neurology vol.88 Neuropsychology and Behavioral Neurology.pdf

Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Vol. 88 (3rd series)
Neuropsychology and behavioral neurology
G. Goldenberg, . Miller, Editors
# 2008 Elsevier . All rights reserved
Cha pter 1
ponents of frontal lobe function
and dysfunction
LAURA A. RABIN1 *, PATIMA TANAPAT2, AND NORMAN RELKIN3
1Department of Psychology, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2Research Consultant, Princeton, NJ, USA
3Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, USA
. Introduction Throughout the chapter, important findings related
to the brain cholinergic system will be presented and
Anatomically represented by cortical areas anterior dirteoc tiothnes for future research highlighted.
central sulcus, the frontal lobes are richly and recipro-
cally interconnected with widespread brain Acetylcholine
through numerous pathways including the limbic
(motivational/mnemonic) system, reticular activatingThe synthesis of ACh is the resu lt of a chem ical reac tion
(arousal) system, posterior association cortex (peinvolvingrcep- the acetyl ation of choline by acetyl CoA. This
tual/cognitive processes and knowledge base), and reactionmotor is catalyzed by choline acetyl transfera se
(action) areasG ol(dman-Rakic, 1987; Cummings, ).1995(ChAT), an enzyme that, becau se of its cent ral role in
This broad pattern of connectivity underlies the catalyzisignif i- ng this reaction, is widel y used as a marker of
cant control exerted over posterior cortical and cholinergisubcorti- c activit y. Altho ugh choline can be synthe-
cal systems by the frontal cortex. All areas ofsized th ede fronovontainl the brain, ACh is synthesized pri marily
cortex receive substantial cholinergic innervation. fromCon- ingested choline, which is transpor ted to the brain
sequently, acetylcholine (ACh) plays a significanbyt rothele blood either free or in phospho lipid form. Fo llow-